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PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

Delavan^L^  Pierson 
BV  3785  .M7  M3x  1915 
McDowell,  John,  1870- 
Dwight  L.  Moody 


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DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 


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Dwight  L.  Moody 

The  Discoverer  of  Men  and 
The  Maker  of  Movements 


By 

JOHN  Mcdowell 

Pastor  of  Park  Presbyterian  Church, 
Newark,  N.  J. 


New  York         Chicago         Toronto 
Fleming     H.     Revell     Company 

London        and        Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1915*  ^y 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  125  North  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London :  2 1  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      100    Princes    Street 


Dedicated  to 
all  who  loved  him 


Preface 

WE  cannot  too  frequently  remind 
ourselves  that  the  best  the  world 
has  to  offer  of  literature,  of  art,  or 
of  music,  is,  after  all,  but  a  partial  revelation 
of  the  inner  riches  of  great  lives.  All  great 
values,  indeed,  may  be  similarly  appraised. 
Back  of  every  institution  aiming  at  the  bet- 
terment and  uplifting  of  the  race  there  is 
always  discoverable  some  one  individual 
who,  in  the  hour  of  its  inception  and  early 
development,  fired  it  with  his  enthusiasm, 
suffused  it  with  his  spirit,  and  poured  his 
love,  and  even  life,  into  the  furtherance  of  its 
aims.  Peculiarly  is  this  true  of  educational 
establishments.  Schools  live,  and  move,  and 
have  their  being  in  the  personalities  of  their 
founders  ;  and  none  in  a  greater  degree  than 
those  founded  by  the  late  Dwight  L.  Moody 
at  Northfield.  These  schools  are  the  product 
of  one  who  loved  and  gave  himself  for  them 
in  unremitting  service  and  boundless  sacri- 
fice. They  stand  with  other  of  his  founda- 
tions, as  monuments  reared  to  the  memory 
of  a  great  and  noble  man. 

5 


6  PREFACE 

It  is  now  more  than  fifteen  years  since 
Moody  went  home  to  God,  and  yet  it  seems 
but  as  yesterday  that  those  who  knew  him 
looked  into  his  kindly  face,  and  listened  to 
his  words  of  love  and  inspiration.  The  flow- 
ers have  long  since  grown  on  his  grave,  yet 
his  place  in  memory,  the  vast  place  which  he 
has  left  in  the  heart  and  thought  of  the  world, 
is  as  great  as  it  was  on  the  morrow  of  his 
death.  Nay,  it  is  greater.  For  as  justice  to 
the  real  height  of  a  lofty  mountain  is  done 
only  when  we  have  left  it  in  the  distance  and 
survey  it  across  a  larger  foreground  of  vales 
and  hills,  so  it  is  with  the  contemplation  of 
the  true  greatness  of  a  man,  whose  posthu- 
mous ministry  increases  mightily  as  the  days 
go  by. 

When  great  men  have  been  among  us — 
men  whose  hands  have  penned,  and  tongues 
have  uttered  wisdom — we  lose  some  of  God's 
most  striking  lessons  if  we  neglect  to  learn 
the  truths,  and  the  examples,  which  they  be- 
queath to  us  at  their  departure.  No  life 
was  ever  richer  in  inspiration,  or  will  better 
repay  a  close  and  prayerful  study,  than  that 
of  Mr.  Moody.  We  are  beginning  to  see 
him  more  nearly  in  his  true  proportions,  as 
we  gradually  leave  him  in  the  distant  past. 
We  are  slowly  but  surely  learning  to  do  him 


PKEFACE  7 

justice,  as  we  find  how  vital  and  far-reaching 
was  his  influence,  how  powerful  and  perma- 
nent was  his  place  in  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
which  is  left  still  unfilled. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  little  volume  to 
review  exhaustively  Mr.  Moody's  life  and 
work  ;  that  has  already  been  well  done  in  the 
authorized  biography  written  by  his  son.  It 
is  meant  to  serve  only  as  an  introduction  to 
the  careful  study  of  his  career,  and  will  con- 
cern itself  with  three  things  only,  which  the 
life  of  the  great  evangelist  suggests  :  I.  The 
influence  of  his  life  ;  II.  The  secret  of  his 
life ;  III.  The  appeal  which  his  life  makes  to 
mankind.  And  it  will  conclude  with  a  selec- 
tion from  the  several  hundred  notable  testi- 
monies on  record  in  which  this  appeal  has 
been  expressed. 

J.  McD. 

Newark y  N.  J. ,  February  5,  -rp/J*. 


Contents 

I.  The  Influence  of  Mr.  Moody's  Life  i  i 

II.  The  Secret  of  Mr.  Moody's  Life     .  25 

III.  The  Appeal  of  Mr.  Moody's  Life    .  37 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  MR.  MOODY'S  LIFE 

INFLUENCE  is  a  difficult  thing  to  esti- 
mate. There  are  no  scales  by  which 
we  can  weigh  it,  no  measuring  rods  by 
which  we  can  count  it.  Yet  it  is  neverthe- 
less true  that,  *'  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them."  Said  The  Outlook :  "  The  story  of 
the  outward  life  of  Mr.  Moody  can  be  told 
after  a  fashion  in  a  book,  but  the  ramifica- 
tions of  his  influence  no  pen  can  ever  de- 
scribe or  imagination  conceive."  His  pro- 
found solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  his  fellow- 
men  found  expression  in  so  many  ways  that 
it  is  quite  impossible  to  describe  or  estimate 
it  by  the  ordinary  standards.  If,  however, 
history  is  a  *'  book  of  God's  and  men's  lives 
are  its  chapters,"  we  may  justly  say  that  the 
chapter  with  which  we  are  now  concerned  is 
one  of  the  greatest  in  the  book. 

In  attempting  an  estimate  of  Mr.  Moody's 
influence  we  will  think  first  of  his  influence 
on  Men,  and  then  of  his  influence  on  Move- 
ments.    It    is   generally   conceded   that   no 

XI 


12  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

other  man  ever  spoke  to  so  many  people 
directly  as  did  he.  Other  preachers  have 
spoken  to  crowds  one  day  in  seven  for  a  few 
years,  but  here  was  a  man  who  held  and 
swayed  multitudes  six  days  in  the  week,  for 
nearly  thirty  years.  He  never  lost  his  draw- 
ing power.  The  very  last  series  of  meetings 
which  he  held — the  series  in  which  he  was 
stricken  down  in  Kansas  City — was  a  con- 
vincing pi  oof  that  his  drawing  power  never 
waned,  and  was  just  as  great  in  the  closing 
years  of  the  century  as  it  was  in  the  seventies. 
But  Mr.  Moody  not  only  drew  the  multi- 
tudes, he  moved  them,  as  did  no  other  man  of 
the  last  century.  His  influence  was  vital  and 
transforming  ;  it  changed  natures,  and  made 
for  holy  living.  He  drew  men  and  women, 
not  to  himself,  but  to  Christ,  and  evidence  of 
this  fact  is  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  part 
of  the  world  to-day,  in  the  lives  of  those  who 
were  brought  under  his  message.  His  influ- 
ence went  even  farther  than  this  :  he  not  only 
influenced  men  to  come  to  Christ,  but  he  in- 
spired them  to  work  for  Christ,  and  when  he 
discovered,  as  he  did  early  in  his  evangelistic 
work,  the  need  of  trained  men,  he  at  once 
established  and  equipped  schools  in  which  to 
provide  opportunity  for  proper  training.  His 
motto  was  :  **  It  is  better  to  put  ten  men  to 


HIS  INFUENCE  13 

work,  than  to  try  to  do  the  work  of  ten  men." 
To  this  motto  he  steadfastly  adhered,  and  he 
may  rightly  be  called  one  of  the  greatest  dis- 
coverers and  developers  of  lay  workers  the 
Christian  Church  has  ever  known. 

In  a  larger  measure  than  any  other  relig- 
ious worker  of  his  day  Mr.  Moody,  in  all  his 
later  years,  possessed  and  held  the  confidence 
of  all  classes  of  society.  He  had  the  love  of 
the  poor,  the  respect  of  the  learned,  the  con- 
fidence of  the  wealthy.  There  is  no  finer  tes- 
timony to  his  influence  than  that  to  be  found 
in  the  large  number  of  wealthy  and  influential 
men,  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States, 
who  were  glad  to  be  associated  with  him  in 
his  many  forms  of  work.  For  more  than 
thirty  years  this  masterful  man  had  only  to 
make  his  desires  known  to  responsible  men 
of  wealth  and  position — men  like  John  V. 
Farwell,  of  Chicago ;  John  H.  Converse  and 
John  Wanamaker,  of  Philadelphia  ;  William 
E.  Dodge  and  D.  Willis  James,  of  New  York, 
and  many  others — and  they  responded  with 
alacrity  and  delight  to  his  call  for  money  and 
service. 

In  many  ways,  Mr.  Moody's  largest  realm 
of  influence  was  among  the  students  whose 
lives  he  has  touched.  Think  of  the  thousands 
of  college  men  who  felt  the  power  of  his  in- 


14  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

fluence — the  men  who  have  heard  him  in  the 
colleges  and  the  many  others  who  heard  him 
in  the  summer  conferences !  Indeed,  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  the  general  quicken- 
ing of  the  religious  life  of  our  American 
colleges  began  in  Dwight  L.  Moody. 

But  even  when  this  is  said,  the  great  evan- 
gelist's influence  is  best  seen  in  the  lives  of 
upwards  of  ten  thousand  young  women  and 
men  who  have  enjoyed  high  privileges  as  a 
direct  result  of  his  life  and  work.  Sons  and 
daughters  of  his  spirit  have  gone  out  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  to  continue  his  influence 
and  carry  on  his  work.  It  is  true  and  will 
continue  to  be  true  that  Moody  still  lives — 
was  never  more  alive  than  at  the  present 
hour. 

Think  also  of  Mr.  Moody's  influence  as  it 
is  seen  in  the  great  movements  with  which 
he  was  connected.  It  can  never  be  ade- 
quately estimated  how  many  of  the  great 
movements  for  the  uplift  of  humanity  which 
marked  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  were  the  outgrowth  of  his  vision 
and  service.  Recall,  first  of  all,  his  influence 
on  evangelistic  work.  For  more  than  thirty 
years  he  stood  before  the  world  as  the  em- 
bodiment of  all  that  was  wise  and  most  effect- 
ive   in    Evangelism.     His   large   ballast  of 


HIS  INFLUENCE  15 

common  sense  kept  him  from  the  emotional 
excesses  of  some  evangelists  of  other  days, 
and  his  splendid  executive  power  enabled 
him  so  to  organize  the  work  of  the  inquiry- 
room  that  each  individual  seeker  was  care- 
fully dealt  with  by  trained  workers.  In  these 
days  when  there  is  such  a  strong  tendency 
in  evangelism  to  tabulate  results — often  long 
before  the  results  are  definitely  known — it  is 
refreshing  and  reassuring  to  know  that  one 
of  the  greatest  evangelists  since  the  Apostles 
never  counted  tangible  results.  Mr.  Moody 
was  perhaps  the  best  public  exponent  the 
nineteenth  century  produced  of  first  century 
Christianity,  both  in  doctrine  and  practice. 
It  is  becoming  more  and  more  evident  that 
he  deserves  a  place  in  the  first  rank,  after  the 
Apostles,  with  Luther,  Knox,  Wesley,  White- 
field,  Finney,  and  a  few  belonging  to  the 
early  Church. 

In  all  his  evangelism,  Mr.  Moody  aimed 
not  at  surface,  but  at  solid  work.  This  was 
the  impression  those  who  were  nearest  to  him 
in  his  work  received.  Possibly  no  man  knew 
Mr.  Moody  better  than  did  Henry  Drummond. 
**  He,  above  all  popular  preachers,"  says 
Drummond,  **  worked  for  solid  results." 
Even  the  mere  harvesting,  his  own  special 
department,  was  a  secondary  thing  with  him 


16  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

when  compared  with  the  garnering  of  the 
fruits  by  the  Church,  and  their  subsequent 
growth  to  larger  fruitfulness.  "  Time,"  says 
Drummond,  **  has  only  deepened  the  impres- 
sion, not  only  of  the  magnitude  of  the  results 
immediately  secured,  but  equally  of  the  per- 
manence of  the  after-effects  upon  every  field 
of  social,  philanthropic  and  religious  activity." 
'*  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,"  he  continues, 
'*  that  Scotland  would  not  be  the  same  to-day 
but  for  the  visit  of  Mr.  Moody,  and  that  so 
far-reaching  was,  and  is,  the  influence  of  his 
work  that  any  one  who  knows  the  inner  re- 
ligious history  of  the  country  must  regard 
this  time  as  nothing  short  of  a  national 
epoch." 

Testimony  like  this  could  be  given  from 
every  field  in  which  Mr.  Moody  ever  worked. 
There  is  no  better  evidence  of  the  sterling 
quality  of  his  evangelistic  work  than  that 
which  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that,  time 
and  time  again,  he  was  urgently  invited  to 
return  to  cities  where  he  had  conducted 
services.  Cities  on  both  sides  of  the  seas 
were  always  sorry  to  have  him  leave,  and 
glad  to  have  him  return.  Great  Britain  was 
continually  inviting  him,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  three  times  he  had  gone  through 
the  Islands,  each  time  with  increasing  power. 


HIS  INFLUENCE  17 

"  D.  L.  Moody/'  said  the  late  Dr.  Dale,  of 
Birmingham,  England,  **  is  the  only  evangel- 
ist that  I  ever  felt  had  the  right  to  speak  of 
a  lost  soul,  because  he  never  spoke  of  the 
possibility  of  a  man  being  lost  without  tears 
in  his  voice." 

By  his  spiritual  motives  and  sane  methods, 
which  were  void  of  sensationalism  and  clap- 
trap, Mr.  Moody  not  only  won  the  hearty 
cooperation  of  all  spiritually-minded  people 
and  secured  the  conversion  of  multitudes  of 
the  ungodly,  but  more  completely  than  any 
other  man  he  impressed  upon  the  Christian 
Church  her  direct  responsibility  for  the  lost 
— her  inescapable  obligation  to  be  always 
and  everywhere  evangelistic.  The  Review 
of  Reviews  sums  up  his  influence  in  this  con- 
nection in  these  words  :  **  Mr.  Moody's  value 
to  the  spiritual  life  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived  transcends  that  of  any  other  preacher 
of  the  Gospel." 

Then  there  was  Mr.  Moody's  influence 
on  education.  The  world  at  large  already 
knows  him  as  the  greatest  evangelist  of  his 
time,  but  it  will  yet  come  to  know  him 
equally  well  as  one  of  the  greatest  educators 
of  his  age.  Without  an  academic  education 
himself,  he  realized  the  vital  and  imperative 
necessity  of  education  as  did  few  men  of  his 


18  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

day.  Nothing  shows  Mr.  Moody's  appre- 
ciation of  education  better  than  his  reply  to 
Mr.  Gladstone.  When  the  men  first  met, 
Gladstone  said  :  "  Mr.  Moody,  I  wish  I  had 
your  shoulders."  To  which  Moody  replied  : 
"  Mr.  Gladstone,  I  wish  I  had  your  head." 

Gladstone  might  well  have  coveted  some 
of  Moody's  head  and  been  none  the  worse 
for  it — a  head  of  which  a  certain  writer,  who 
had  met  every  great  contemporary  thinker, 
from  Carlyle  downward,  said,  '*  In  sheer  brain 
size — in  the  raw  material  of  intellect — Moody 
stands  among  the  first  three  or  four  great 
men  I  have  ever  known." 

The  founding  of  Northfield  Seminary  for 
young  women,  and  Mount  Hermon  School 
for  young  men,  marked  an  epoch  in  Moody's 
life  and  work.  ''  There  is  no  stronger  proof 
of  Mr.  Moody's  breadth  of  mind,"  says 
Drummond,  "  than  that  the  greatest  evangel- 
ist of  his  day,  not  when  his  powers  were  fail- 
ing, but  in  the  prime  of  life  and  in  the 
zenith  of  his  success,  should  divert  so  great  a 
measure  of  his  strength  into  educational 
channels.  Mr.  Moody  realized  the  value  of 
character,  of  a  sound  mind  and  disciplined 
judgment.  He  found  the  converts  without 
these  weak-kneed  and  useless,  and  as  Chris- 
tian   workers   inefficient,   if  not   dangerous. 


HIS  INFLUENCE  19 

Mr.  Moody  saw  that  the  primary  pur- 
pose of  Christianity  was  to  make  good  men 
and  good  women,  who  would  serve  their 
God  and  their  country,  not  only  with  all  their 
hearts,  but  with  all  their  minds  and  all  their 
strength."  Out  of  this  conviction  grew  the 
Northfield  educational  institutions,  which  in 
the  last  twenty-five  years  have  offered  more 
than  ten  thousand  young  women  and  young 
men  a  chance  to  become  useful,  educated 
and  God-fearing. 

Mr.  Moody  was  preeminently  a  man  who 
sought  to  direct  and  control  the  movements 
which  were  vital  to  life.  He  was  keenly 
alive  to  the  fact  that  education  was  a  primary 
factor  in  the  making  of  an  individual,  and 
that  the  character  of  the  nation  would  ulti- 
mately be  determined  by  the  type  of  educa- 
tion which  dominated  it.  Hence  his  untiring 
effort  to  make  education  distinctively  Chris- 
tian or,  according  to  his  conception  of  it,  edu- 
cation in  which  the  aim  is  Christlike  char- 
acter. The  primary  aim  of  every  institution 
which  Mr.  Moody  founded  was  to  make 
Christians,  not  critics  ;  servants,  not  scholars. 

He  sought,  not  simply  to  educate,  but  to 
educate  for  a  definite  service — the  service  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Dr.  Pierson  has  well  said ; 
"  As  Arnold  made  Rugby  a  nursery  of  a  pe- 


20  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY  v 

culiar  type  of  British  men  of  culture,  Moody 
made  Northfield  and  Mt.  Hermon  nurseries 
of  Christian  character  and  service."  Chris- 
tian education  is  not  distinguished  by  any 
peculiarity  of  method,  nor  by  any  peculiarity 
of  means ;  it  is  distinguished  entirely  by  its 
aim.  Mr.  Moody  grasped  this  fact,  and  dedi- 
cated these  institutions  to  the  making  of 
Christian  men  and  women. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  observe 
that  Mr.  Moody  was  years  ahead  of  most 
educators,  in  at  least  two  respects.  First,  in 
his  recognition  of  the  vital  place  the  Bible 
should  have  in  education.  Long  before  any 
of  our  institutions  made  the  Bible  a  regular 
subject  of  study,  Mr.  Moody  had  insisted  that 
it  should  have  the  first  place  in  his  schools. 
To-day,  there  is  scarcely  a  first-class  school 
which  has  not  come,  practically,  to  his  posi- 
tion. Second,  Mr.  Moody  anticipated  the 
modern  movement  for  some  restriction  in 
athletics.  He  was  alive  to  the  situation,  and 
suggested  and  put  into  operation  the  very 
plan  which  some  of  our  leading  educators 
are  just  now  seriously  considering,  namely, 
that  of  confining  contests  to  home  grounds 
among  the  classes.  Consideration  of  space 
will  not  permit  of  a  more  extended  reference 
to  the  educational  value  of  Mr.  Moody's  other 


HIS  INFLUENCE  21 

lines  of  work,  otherwise  such  institutions  as 
the  Chicago  schools  and  the  Northfield  Sum- 
mer Conferences  might  be  passed  in  review. 

We  come  now  to  Mr.  Moody's  influence 
on  the  greatest  religious  and  moral  move- 
ments of  the  last  fifty  years,  such  as  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  the 
world-wide  uprising  of  Christian  students, 
the  Sunday-School  Movement,  the  Young 
People's  Movement,  Rescue  Missions,  Sum- 
mer Tent-Work,  Bible  Study,  Missionary, 
and  Interdenominational  Movements.  To 
all  of  these,  and  many  others,  Mr.  Moody 
gave  himself  with  all  the  power  of  his  heart 
and  strength.  No  man  did  more  than  he  to 
forward  the  interests  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  ;  no  man  of  his  time 
did  so  much  to  break  down  the  old  denomi- 
national barriers,  and  bring  the  different  com- 
munions together  in  united  service. 

As  an  administrator,  as  an  agent  for  men 
of  wealth,  as  a  transmuter  of  money  into 
bricks,  stones,  books  and  tracts.  Moody 
ranks  as  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  any 
time.  Scotland,  Ireland,  England  and  the 
United  States  are  dotted  with  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  buildings,  Bible  Insti- 
tutes, Halls,  Homes  and  Churches,  which  owe 


22  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

their  existence  to  his  direct  influence.  Chris- 
tian philanthropy,  too,  owes  much  to  Mr, 
Moody's  influence.  Such  institutions  as 
"  The  British  Workman  Company  Limited," 
of  Liverpool,  is  only  one  of  the  many  organi- 
zations which  he  inspired  to  relieve  need  and 
help  men. 

But  possibly  no  movement  shows  Mr. 
Moody's  far-reaching  and  abiding  influence 
more  than  that  movement  which  is  coming 
to  the  front  so  rapidly  and  with  such  great 
power  just  now,  namely,  the  Laymen's 
Movement.  Men's  clubs  and  brotherhoods 
are  the  most  striking  features  of  the  Twen- 
tieth Century  Church.  The  layman  is  be- 
ginning to  find  his  place  in  the  work  of  the 
Kingdom.  In  many  ways  Mr.  Moody  may 
be  rightly  credited  with  being  the  discoverer 
in  this  country  of  the  laymen  for  the  Church. 
More  than  any  other  man  of  our  times, 
D wight  L.  Moody  vindicated  the  rights, 
duties  and  privileges  of  the  layman  in  car- 
rying the  Gospel  to  the  world,  as  opposed 
to  the  exclusive  prerogatives  of  an  ordained 
clergy.  He  did  this  without  in  the  least  be- 
littling the  function  of  a  ministry  that  is 
academically  trained  and  ecclesiastically  or- 
dained. Mr.  Moody  found  John  H.  Con- 
verse, and  through  Mr.  Converse  has  largely 


HIS  INFLUENCE  23 

come  the  summer  evangelism  of  our  day,  the 
EvangeHstic  Committees  with  their  large 
campaigns,  the  Brotherhoods  and  Foreign 
Mission  Forward  Movements.  To  be  sure 
the  Christian  Church  has  always  believed  in 
the  laymen  having  a  right  to  work,  but  it 
waited  for  Mr.  Moody,  the  unordained,  but 
foreordained  man  of  God,  to  put  the  layman 
in  America  to  work  for  Christ.  Mr.  Moody 
believed  that  every  Christian  was  foreor- 
dained to  service  ;  by  his  own  example  and 
his  untiring  effort  he  did  all  he  could  to  help 
Christians  realize  their  divine  call. 

Think,  if  you  will,  of  some  of  the  laymen 
whom  Mr.  Moody  discovered,  and  did  much 
to  develop.  Among  the  many  names  which 
might  be  mentioned,  we  refer  only  to  a  few. 
Such  men  as  Henry  Drummond,  Wilfred 
Grenfell,  C.  K.  Studd,  John  H.  Converse, 
John  Wanamaker,  John  R.  Mott  and  Robert 
E.  Speer.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  no 
other  man  ever  did  so  much  to  lead  laymen 
into  the  service  of  Christ.  Mr.  Moody  was 
preeminently  a  discoverer  and  developer  of 
men.  Measured  by  whatsoever  standard  you 
please,  whether  by  his  influence  on  men  or 
on  movements,  or  both,  he  stands  out  as  one 
of  the  world's  greatest  men  in  the  power  and 
preeminence  of  his  influence. 


24:  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY  / 

If  a  visitor  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London, 
will  cast  his  eye  over  the  northern  doorway, 
he  will  see  a  slab  of  marble  on  which  is  in- 
scribed the  name  of  the  architect,  Chris- 
topher Wren.  Beneath  the  name  is  written  : 
**  If  you  would  see  his  monument,  look 
around  you."  So  to-day,  if  one  would  see 
the  influence  of  Dwight  L.  Moody  let  him 
look  around  and  see  the  multitude  of  men 
whom  this  great  man  touched  with  the  holy 
fire  of  his  own  life  and  the  mighty  move- 
ments he  inaugurated  and  furthered. 


II 

THE  SECRET  OF  MR.  MOODY'S  LIFE 

WE  cannot  come  in  touch  with  such 
a  helpful  and  uplifting  life  without 
asking :  Where  were  the  hidings 
of  this  man's  power  ?  What  was  the  secret 
of  his  inspiring  influence  ? 

Emerson  says  :  **  Men  are  not  quite  so  anx- 
ious to  know  what  you  do  as  what  makes  you 
do  it."  In  Moody's  case,  one  is  desirous  of 
knowing  both — what  he  did,  and  what  made 
him  do  it.  It  has  been  said  that  great  men 
influence  the  world  in  three  ways — by  what 
they  say,  by  what  they  do,  and  by  what  they 
are.  Mr.  Moody's  influence  was  rich  in  all 
three  characteristics.  He  influenced  the 
world  by  his  teaching,  by  his  action,  by  his 
character.  One  would  desire  to  enlarge  on 
each  one  of  these  channels  of  influence,  but 
must  rest  content  with  a  search  for  the  secret 
of  it  all.  Kaftan,  in  his  lectures  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Berlin,  is  in  the  habit  of  saying 
that  the  greatest  problem  of  life  is  the  prob- 
lem of  an  appreciative  understanding  of  the 
great  personalities  of  history.     When  one  is 

25 


26  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

dealing  with  D.  L.  Moody  he  is  dealing  with 
one  of  these  great  personalities. 

If  asked  for  the  secret  of  it  all,  this  man, 
who  has  left  the  world  such  a  marvellous  rec- 
ord of  self-improvement,  of  self-control,  of  self- 
abandonment  to  the  service  of  humanity,  of 
distinguished  and  durable  achievement,  would 
unhesitatingly  answer  just  one  word — Christ. 
Looking  back  over  the  record  of  his  life  and 
work,  we  are  constrained  to  believe  that 
Christ  was  the  source  of  his  life,  the  law  of 
his  life,  the  power  of  his  life,  the  plan  of  his 
life,  the  glory  of  his  life.  His  life  found  its 
stimulus,  its  substance,  its  end  in  Christ.  No 
career  of  modern  times  is  a  better  commen- 
tary on  the  high  motto  of  the  apostle  Paul, 
"For  me  to  live  is  Christ,"  than  that  of 
Dwight  L.  Moody. 

Looking  up  by  faith  into  the  Glory  Land, 
we  ask  him  to-day  to  tell  us  the  secret  of  his 
life  and  influence,  and  I  think  I  hear  him 
say  in  the  old  familiar  voice:  "Sons  and 
daughters  of  my  spirit,  the  secret  of  my  life 
was  Christ.  Christ  was  my  creed  ;  Christ 
was  my  deepest  conviction  ;  Christ  was  the 
pattern  of  my  conduct ;  Christ  was  the  spring 
of  my  character ;  the  inspiration  of  my  labours ; 
the  source  of  my  love."  As  a  direct  result  of 
enthroning  Christ  in  his  life,  Mr.  Moody  was 


HIS  SECRET  27 

a  man  whose  life  was  marked  by  many  Christ- 
like qualities.  Of  some  of  these  qualities  I 
wish  to  speak  briefly. 

(i)  He  was  a  man  of  unfaltering  faith. 
If  character  and  worth  are  the  evidences 
of  faith,  we  may  truthfully  say  :  '*  Oh,  man, 
great  was  thy  faith  1  '*  Mr.  Moody's  faith 
was  real  to  him,  and  he  made  it  real  to  others. 
It  was  the  active,  rather  than  the  passive 
type  ;  it  was  intensely  practical.  Its  nature  is 
splendidly  set  forth  in  a  reply  he  once  made 
in  the  author's  hearing  when  asked  why  he 
did  not  run  his  schools  on  faith.  **  I  do,"  he 
quickly  responded,  "  I  always  have  and  always 
will.  As  an  evidence  of  it,  if  you  will  tell 
me  of  any  Christian  man  who  has  money,  to 
whom  I  have  not  written,  or  on  whom  I  have 
not  called,  I  will  do  so  at  once.  I  show  my 
faith  when  I  go  to  men,  and  ask  them  to  give 
to  God's  work." 

Within  an  hour  of  making  this  statement, 
the  mail  arrived.  Among  his  letters  was  one 
from  a  business  man,  to  whom  he  had  written 
asking  for  $10,000  towards  the  running  ex- 
penses of  his  schools.  The  letter  was  a  long 
one,  offering  many  excuses  for  not  complying 
with  the  request  and  closed  by  reminding 
Mr.  Moody  of  the  promise  :  "  My  God  shall 
supply  all  your  need  in  Christ  Jesus." 


28  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

"  Of  course  He  will,"  commented  Mr. 
Moody  in  his  most  natural  way.  The  next 
letter  he  opened  was  from  Scotland,  and  in 
it  was  a  draft  for  two  thousand  pounds  from 
an  old  friend  who  desired  to  express  his  ap- 
preciation of  the  Service  the  evangelist  had 
rendered  to  the  Scotsman's  native  land  I 

Mr.  Moody's  faith  evinced  itself  in  two 
ways :  First,  in  his  capacity  to  believe  God's 
Word.  Having  satisfied  himself  that  the 
Bible  is  God's  word  to  man,  he  accepted  it 
with  all  his  heart.  He  never  discounted  any 
portion  of  it.  He  claimed  every  promise  in 
it  for  himself,  his  friends,  and  his  fellow-men. 
Second,  his  faith  evinced  itself  in  his  power 
to  do  things.  The  man  of  thought  is  the 
brain  of  the  community,  the  man  of  feeling 
is  its  heart,  the  man  of  deeds  is  its  hand. 
Mr.  Moody  was  all  three.  His  large  concep- 
tions were  realized  and  his  aspirations  were 
translated  into  facts  by  an  executive  ability 
of  the  first  order.  Mr.  Moody  had  a  tre- 
mendous capacity  for  work,  and  for  setting 
others  to  work.  Everything  he  undertook 
was  a  success.  His  faith  is  accurately  de- 
scribed in  the  words  of  the  apostle  Paul  as 
"  Faith  which  worketh  by  love." 

(2)  He  was  a  man  of  singleness  of  purpose. 
His  heart  was  in  everything  he  did.     As  a 


HIS  SECRET  29 

salesman  in  the  shoe-store,  a  teacher  in  the 
Sunday-school,  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  a 
leader  of  men  and  movements,  he  showed 
that  his  life  was  dominated  by  one  great  pur- 
pose. His  was  not  only  a  consecrated  life,  it 
was  a  concentrated  life.  He  realized  that  the 
secret  of  all  moral  force,  all  spiritual  success, 
all  reality,  is  concentration. 

Mr.  Moody  engaged  in  many  forms  of 
work  during  his  lifetime,  but  all  his  work  was 
inspired  by  one  purpose — the  glory  of  Christ 
in  the  salvation  of  men.  From  this  purpose 
he  never  swerved.  To  it  he  gave  himself 
with  unlimited  devotion  and  whole-souled 
loyalty.  No  man  ever  followed  more  faith- 
fully the  motto  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  *'  I  will 
live  with  all  my  might,  while  I  live.''  Few 
men  ever  lived  such  a  life  of  purpose  and 
deed.  He  had  no  inordinate  love  of  self  in 
any  shape,  of  pleasure,  of  gold,  of  fame.  All 
these  things  were  absorbed  in  the  bending 
and  blending  of  his  will  to  God's. 

(3)  He  was  a  man  of  sterling  sincerity, 
"  It  is  refreshing  at  all  times,  and  especially 
in  this  superficial  and  artificial  age,"  wrote  the 
editor  of  The  Catholic  World  of  Mr.  Moody 
at  his  death,  "  to  come  into  contact  with  such 
a  genuine  soul,  a  nature  so  sincere,  so  simple 
that  it  seems  a  mirror  of  nature  itself." 


30  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

The  transparency  of  Moody's  character 
and  the  sincerity  of  his  acts  were  so  marked 
that  none  who  knew  him  could  ever  forget 
them.  Between  his  pulpit  utterances  and 
his  private  life  there  was  no  gulf  fixed,  nor 
was  there  any  between  his  Monday  warfare 
and  his  Sunday  worship.  He  had  a  passion 
for  sincerity,  for  '*  the  clean  heart,"  for  **  truth 
in  the  inward  parts."  He  was  never  guilty 
of  sacrificing  sincerity  for  success.  He  had 
an  inborn  dislike  of  all  sham  and  deception. 
For  a  man  to  say  what  he  really  thinks,  and 
to  be,  outwardly,  what  he  really  is  in  his 
heart,  requires  heroism  of  no  mean  type. 
This  heroism  Mr.  Moody  possessed  in  a 
most  remarkable  degree.  His  very  presence 
killed  insincerity  and  inspired  sincerity.  He 
was  a  hero  to  his  own  children  and  to  his 
best  friends. 

(4)  He  was  a  man  of  genuine  humility, 
A  truly  sincere  man  is  always  humble.  He 
feels  like  a  child  amid  God's  infinite  mys- 
teries, longs  for  a  nobler  music,  cries  in  his 
heart,  **  Light,  light,  more  light,"  till  God,  in 
His  own  way,  leads  him  there.  Such  a  man 
was  Dwight  L.  Moody.  He  willingly  sat  at 
the  feet  of  other  men  to  learn.  Drummond 
says  that  the  way  he  turned  aside  from 
applause  in  England  struck  multitudes  with 


HIS  SECRET  31 

wonder.  To  be  courted  was  to  him  not 
merely  a  thing  to  be  discouraged  on  general 
principles,  it  simply  made  him  miserable. 
At  the  close  of  a  great  meeting  when  crowds, 
not  of  the  base  but  of  the  worthy,  thronged 
the  platform  to  press  his  hand  he  always 
somehow  disappeared.  When  they  followed 
him  to  his  hotel,  his  doors  were  barred. 
This  man  would  not  be  praised.  The  criti- 
cism which  sours,  and  the  adulation  which 
spoils,  left  untouched  the  man  who  **  forgot 
himself  into  immortality." 

(5)  He  was  a  man  of  large  wisdom.  By 
wisdom,  the  power  of  discerning  what  is  true 
and  right,  is  meant ;  the  power  of  discerning 
what  is  conducive  to  the  highest  interest  of 
humanity,  the  discernment  of  the  real  char- 
acteristics and  relations  of  conduct.  If  "  wis- 
dom is  knowledge  made  our  own  and  ap- 
plied to  life,"  then  to  Mr.  Moody  must  be 
credited  large  and  unusual  wisdom.  If,  as 
Dr.  Shedd  says,  "  education  is  not  a  dead 
mass  of  accumulated  terms  but  power  to 
work  with  the  brain,"  then  Mr.  Moody  was 
one  of  the  best  educated  men  of  his  day. 
"  If,"  says  Dr.  Pierson,  "  the  mark  of  an  edu- 
cated man  is  found  in  the  union  of  capacity 
and  sagacity,  innate  mental  vigour  and  prac- 
tical ability  to  use  it  for  a  purpose,  we  come 


32  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

to  say  that  Mr.  Moody  was  no  common 
specimen  of  a  man  of  education  in  the  best 
sense."  If,  as  Emerson  says,  "  The  foun- 
dation of  culture  as  of  character  is  at  the  last 
moral  sentiment/*  no  man  of  his  day  sur- 
passed Mr.  Moody  in  genuine  culture,  for 
few  men  equalled  him  in  moral  sentiment. 

(6)  He  was  a  ma7i  of  prayer.  Here  we 
touch  the  inner  source  of  this  man's  match- 
less power.  To  Mr.  Moody  God  was  not  a 
mere  law,  nor  an  abstraction.  To  him  God 
was  a  Person  who  feels  and  thinks,  a  Father 
who  rules  and  loves,  and  is  concerned  with 
everything  which  affects  His  children.  With 
such  a  conception  of  God  we  are  not  sur- 
prised to  find  Mr.  Moody  leading  a  life  of 
ceaseless  communion  with  Him  out  of  which 
grew  a  life  of  overcoming  strength.  There 
was  a  correspondence  between  Mr.  Moody's 
life  and  his  prayers.  Both  were  massive, 
and  on  a  grand  scale.  Prayer  was  the  real 
working  power  of  Moody's  life. 

I  am  grateful  to-day  for  all  the  prayers  of 
this  great  man,  but  there  are  three  which  will 
never  fade  from  my  memory  nor  cease  to 
live  in  my  life.  Of  each  of  them  I  desire  to 
say  just  a  word  because  they  illustrate  the 
reality  and  scope  of  Mr.  Moody's  prayer-life. 
The  first  was  offered  on  a  memorable  night 


HIS  SECRET  33 

in  June,  1890,  as  we  stood  under  the  old  oak 
tree  near  Revell  Cottage,  at  Northfield.  It 
was  a  prayer  for  Mt.  Hermon  School.  I  can- 
not recall  it  all,  but  I  well  remember  how  Mr. 
Moody  sobbed  as  he  prayed  for  his  boys  and 
committed  to  God  the  care  of  the  school,  and 
asked  Him  to  guide  to  it  the  man  who  would 
direct  it  to  His  glory. 

The  second  prayer  was  one  offered  in  Park 
Avenue  Hotel,  New  York.  Mr.  Moody  had 
written  to  several  men  asking  them  to  con- 
tribute generously  to  a  fund  for  an  evangel- 
istic campaign  in  Chicago  during  the  hold- 
ing of  the  World's  Fair.  He  had  asked 
them  to  address  him  at  Park  Avenue  Hotel. 
When  he  arrived  and  asked  for  his  mail, 
there  was  none.  We  went  to  a  room  and  as 
soon  as  the  door  was  shut  he  said,  "  Let  us 
pray,"  and  then  and  there  he  poured  out  his 
soul  to  God  for  the  opportunity  offered  by 
the  fair  about  to  be  held  in  Chicago.  I  well 
remember  his  saying  in  that  prayer :  **  If  you 
want  me  to  carry  on  the  work  in  Chicago, 
open  the  way ;  raise  up  friends  who  will 
provide  the  funds.  Forbid  that  the  oppor- 
tunity of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  thousands 
should  be  lost  by  lack  of  interest  on  the  part 
of  Christians."  Here  was  the  man  of  God, 
burdened  for  the  unsaved,  every  one  of  whom 


34  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

was  dear  to  him,  because,  for  them,  Christ 
had  died. 

The  last  prayer  of  the  three,  and  the  last 
which  I  ever  heard  from  his  lips  (indeed, 
the  last  words  I  ever  heard  from  him),  was 
offered  as  I  walked  home  with  him  from 
a  service  he  had  conducted  in  Harrisburg. 
We  had  reached  the  house  where  he  was 
staying  and  were  about  to  separate,  when  he 
put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder  and  bowed  his 
head  in  prayer.  It  was  a  short  prayer,  but 
it  reached  the  Throne  of  Grace  and  my  heart : 
*'  O  God,  bless  Mac  in  his  life,  and  work,  and 
use  him  mightily  for  Thy  glory."  Here  was 
the  servant  of  God  praying  for  the  individ- 
ual, just  as  earnestly  as  for  the  school,  and 
the  unsaved. 

(7)  He  was  preeminently  a  man  of  deep 
and  strong  love.  This  love  manifested  itself 
in  innumerable  ways.  It  was  often  seen  in 
the  tenderness  and  gentleness  of  the  man. 
No  nature  was  ever  more  generous  and  more 
considerate  of  the  interests  and  welfare  of 
others.  When  urged  by  supporters  of  his 
schools  to  raise  the  tuition  from  $100.00  per 
year  to  $200.00,  with  the  suggestion  that 
those  who  could  not  pay  the  extra  $100.00 
should  secure  some  friend  to  do  it,  Mr. 
Moody  replied : — "  I  want  to  be  that  friend 


HIS  SECRET  35 

to  every  student  who  enters  these  schools." 
His  interest  in  his  students  never  ceased. 
They  were  on  his  heart  day  and  night  as 
the  following  letter  shows  : 

"  London^  July  <?,  i8g2, 
**  My  dear  McDowell  : 

"  I  was  glad  to  get  so  good  a  report  from  Prince- 
ton, and  am  glad  the  boys  are  all  doing  so  well,  es- 
pecially   .  I  have  written  him  a  letter  to- 
day. //  cheers  me  to  hear  that  the  boys  who  have 
gone  out  from  us  are  doing  all  they  can  to  hold  up 
Christ.  I  do  not  see  why  Mount  Hermon  should  not 
become  a  blessing  to  all  of  the  colleges  in  the  course 
of  time.  Give  my  warmest  love  to  all  the  boys,  and 
tell  them  that  I  am  glad  to  get  so  good  a  report  from 
them.  Write  me  often  and  let  me  know  how  things 
go  at  Northfield  this  summer. 

*' Yours  truly, 

*'  D.  L.  Moody." 

"  He  embodied,"  says  Dr.  Pierson,  **  the 
genius  of  goodness."  In  his  Bible  he  carried 
those  words  of  John  Wesley  : 

*'  Do  all  the  good  you  can 
To  all  the  people  you  can 
In  all  the  ways  you  can 
And  as  long  as  you  can." 

This  motto  was  not  only  printed  in  his 
Bible,  it  was  lived  out  in  his  daily  life.     Love 


36  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

was  the  master  law  of  his  life,  the  essence  of 
his  religion.  Christianity,  to  Mr.  Moody,  was 
a  method  of  life  by  which  men  and  women  are 
taught  and  inspired  to  love  as  Jesus  loved, 
and  to  live  loving  and  lovable  lives.  Mr. 
Moody's  love  was  inclusive ;  it  embraced 
everything  which  was  wholesome  and 
healthy.  Sitting  on  the  porch  of  his  home 
on  a  summer  evening,  watching  one  of  those 
glorious  sunsets,  he  said  :  "  Oh,  life  is  sweet 
— life  is  sweet — because  God  is  love." 


Ill 

THE  APPEAL  OF  MR.  MOODY'S  LIFE 

THE  memory  of  a  man  who  exerted 
such  an  influence  and  lived  such  a 
life  as  D wight  L.  Moody,  cannot 
die.  We  do  not  wonder  that  Drummond, 
a  close  student  of  human  character  and  an 
expert  in  spiritual  diagnosis,  should  say  five 
years  before  Mr.  Moody's  death  :  **  Whether 
estimated  by  the  moral  qualities  which  go  to 
the  making  up  of  his  personal  character  or 
the  extent  to  which  he  impressed  them  upon 
whole  communities  of  men  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic,  there  is  perhaps  no  more  truly 
great  man  living  than  Dwight  L.  Moody. 
America  possesses  at  this  moment  no  more 
extraordinary  personage  ;  not  even  among 
the  most  brilliant  of  her  sons  has  any  ren- 
dered more  stupendous  or  more  enduring 
service  to  his  country  or  its  life."  The  fol- 
lowing testimonies  show  the  depth  and  ex- 
tent of  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Moody's  life  and 
work. 

37 


38  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

A  Word  from  the  President 
Mr.  Wilson's  Tribute  to  Mr,  Moody 
The  Editor  of  the  Congregationalist^  not  long  ago, 
found  in  the  files  of  an  old  newspaper  an  incident  re- 
cording President  Wilson's  appreciation  of  Mr.  Moody. 
In  order  to  be  sure  of  its  authenticity  Dr.  Bridgman 
wrote  to  President  Wilson  asking  him  whether  or  not 
the  incident  was  a  legend.  His  response  was  as 
kindly  as  it  was  prompt.  It  is  printed  herewith, 
together  with  the  incident,  which  the  President 
fittingly  calls  **an  evangelistic  service  in   a   barber 

shop." 

*'  October  26,  igi4. 
"  The  White  House, 

Washington. 
"  My  dear  Doctor  Bridgman  : 

**  No,  this  is  not  a  legend ;  it  is  a  fact,  and  I 
am  perfectly  willing  that  you  should  publish  it.  My 
admiration  and  esteem  for  Mr.  Moody  was  very  deep 

indeed. 

**  Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

<' WooDROw  Wilson." 

**  I  was  in  a  very  plebeian  place.  I  was  in  a  barber's 
shop,  sitting  in  a  chair,  when  I  became  aware  that  a 
personality  had  entered  the  room.  A  man  had  come 
quietly  in  upon  the  same  errand  as  myself  and  sat  in 
the  next  chair  to  me.  Every  word  he  uttered,  though 
it  was  not  in  the  least  didactic,  showed  a  personal  and 
vital  interest  in  the  man  who  was  serving  him ;  and 
before  I  got  through  with  what  was  being  done  to  me, 
I  was  aware  that  I  had  attended  an  evangelistic  serv- 
ice, because  Mr.   Moody  was  in  the  next  chair.     I 


HIS  APPEAL  39 

purposely  lingered  in  the  room  after  he  left  and  noted 
the  singular  effect  his  visit  had  upon  the  barbers  in 
that  shop.  They  talked  in  undertones.  They  did 
not  know  his  name,  but  they  knew  that  something 
had  elevated  their  thought.  And  I  felt  that  I  left 
that  place  as  I  should  have  left  a  place  of  worship." 


His  Message  of  Service 

David  J.  Brewery  late  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States 

"The  rounded  fullness  of  DwightL.  Moody's  life  is 
an  answer  to  the  oft-repeated  question,  Is  life  worth 
living?  It  is  not  worth  Hving  if  livedlfor  self;  it  is  if 
lived  for  others.  And,  when  I  think  of  the  countless 
many  who  have  been  lifted  to  higher  things  by  his 
earnest  words  and  self-denying  life,  I  am  sure  that  his 
life  was  worth  living.  Only  the  recording  angel  can 
tell  the  number  of  those  who,  when  the  news  of  his 
death  was  telegraphed,  responded  with  the  expression, 
unrecorded  on  earth,  *  Thank  God  for  Dwight  L. 
Moody's  life.'  His  end  was  peace.  His  message  to 
all  is  service.  *  Whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you 
let  him  be  your  servant.'  " 


One  of  the  World's  Greatest  Leaders 
Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  Editor  of "  The  Outlook  " 
"Moody's  name  and  good  works  are  known  and 
loved  throughout  the  civilized  world.  By  his  death 
the  world  lost  one  of  its  greatest  leaders.  His  marvel- 
lous energy  and  kindly  spirit  made  friends  for  religion 
by  the  tens  of  thousands." 


40  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

A  Successful  Life 
Dr.  Pat  ton,  Ex-President  Princeton  University 

*'  By  the  death  of  Mr.  Moody  the  world  lost  a  man 
who,  although  he  had  no  academic  education,  was  one 
of  the  greatest  powers  for  winning  souls  to  Christ  and 
uplifting  his  fellow-men.  Talk  of  a  successful  life  ! 
Take  any  man  who  has  achieved  honour  on  the  battle- 
field, fame  in  statesmanship  or  in  whatever  way  he 
has  attracted  the  world's  attention,  and  how  does  that 
life  compare  with  the  life  of  Dwight  L.  Moody?  " 


America's  Most  Extraordinary  Preacher  of 
THE  Century 

Xhe  late  Theodore  L,  Cuyler,  D,  D. 

"Dwight  L.  Moody  was  undeniably  the  most  ex- 
traordinary gospel  preacher  that  America  has  produced 
in  this  century,  as  Spurgeon  was  the  most  extraordinary 
that  Britain  has  produced.  Both  had  all  Christendom 
for  their  congregations.  I  am  glad  that,  like  Abraham 
Lincoln,  he  never  went  to  any  college ;  both  form  their 
own  racy  Saxon  styles  for  themselves. 

**  With  my  beloved  Brother  Moody  I  had  much 
personal  intimacy  for  twenty-eight  years.  He  de- 
livered his  first  Bible-readings  in  our  little  mission 
chapel  in  the  winter  of  1872.  A  few  months  later 
when  I  was  in  London,  he  came  into  my  room  one 
day  and  said :  *  They  want  me  to  stay  and  preach 
here;  what  shall  I  do?'  My  quick  answer  was 
'  Come.''  He  went,  and  thus  began  his  world-wide 
career  in  Britain. 


HIS  APPEAL  41 

**One  of  his  last  sermons  was  delivered  from  my 
old  pulpit.  I  said  to  him,  *Last  night  you  were 
at  your  best ;  you  were  not  talking  to  Christians,  but 
calling  the  unconverted  to  Jesus ;  stick  to  that  as 
long  as  you  live." 


His  Love  for  His  Fellow-Men 

Hon.  John  Wanamaker 

"  My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Moody  runs  back 
forty  years  or  more.  .  .  .  Stretching  over  the 
years  that  intervened,  up  to  a  month  before  his  death, 
I  enjoyed  the  inspiration  of  his  life.  The  freshest 
memory  I  have  of  him  is  the  night  of  November  13, 
1900,  when  he  got  off  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  train 
to  keep  an  appointment  he  had  made  with  me  by 
telegraph,  to  spend  a  short  time  between  trains  on  his 
way  to  Kansas  City  for  his  last  meetings.  I  remarked 
that  same  night,  after  he  had  left  me,  how  heavy  a 
burden  seemed  to  rest  upon  his  heart  as  he  said  again 
and  again  :  *  I  wish  that  I  might  be  moved  of  God  to 
move  one  large  Eastern  city.  For  I  think  if  one 
Eastern  city  could  be  thoroughly  revived,  the  others 
would  feel  the  influence  and  be  stirred  Hkewise.'  As 
I  looked  into  the  face  of  the  man,  whose  eyes  and 
voice  were  full  of  tears,  it  seemed  as  if  a  prophet  like 
unto  Elijah  had  come  back  again.  He  left  behind 
him  that  night  his  comfortable  home  at  Northfieldand 
the  hospitality  which  so  many  friends  would  have  been 
glad  to  give  him ;  laid  himself  down  in  a  sleeping- 
berth  of  a  Pullman  car,  rattling  over  a  thousand  miles 
to  Kansas  City ;  and  rose  with  a  heavy  load  of  concern 


42  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

for  the  kingdom  of  his  Master,  and  under  the  weight 
of  it  he  staggered  into  his  grave. 

**  In  summing  up  the  distinctly  great  things  of  this 
great  century  no  man  stands  out  more  prominently 
who  has  spent  so  many  continuous  years  in  superhuman 
labour  for  the  public  good  as  Dwight  L.  Moody,  the 
Christian  American  layman.  Uncrowned,  without 
title  of  any  kind,  he  wears  the  first  honours  among  the 
men  who  loved  their  fellow-men." 


The  Missions  in  London  ;  Their  Rich  and 
Enduring  Fruitage 
Rt.   Hon.  Lord  Kinnaird 

**  As  1  look  back  over  fifty  years  of  evangelistic 
work  I  recall  that  during  forty  of  these  years  I  was 
constantly  in  contact  with  that  prince  of  evangehsts, 
Mr.  D.  L.  Moody.  With  pleasure  and  thankfulness  I 
remember  his  wonderful  life-work  and  I  realize  more 
and  more  what  a  mighty  force  he  was,  and  how  im- 
mensely his  labours  were  used  to  help  thousands  in  my 
own  country.  There  are  to-day  very  many  serving 
God  whole-heartedly  who  were  brought  to  a  saving 
knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  by  means  of  the 
remarkable  revival  which  was  granted  as  the  result 
of  the  Missions  throughout  London  and  elsewhere 
conducted  by  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey. 

"  I  had  the  great  privilege  of  very  close  association 
with  him  during  all  his  evangelistic  campaigns  in  our 
land.  When  he  first  came  as  an  unknown  visitor  and 
during  the  mission  conducted  in  Rev.  Frank  White's 
Chapel  at  Chelsea,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moody  were  the 


HIS  APPEAL  43 

guests  of  our  mutual  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quintin 
Hogg.  There  we  first  got  to  know  them  well  and  to 
love  them.  I  have  never  known  any  one  whose  faith 
was  so  real  and  abounding ;  no  difficulty  could  daunt 
him,  no  perplexity  could  cloud  his  faith  in  God  or 
dim  his  calm  belief  that  all  would  be  well. 

"  His  memory  still  remains  and  his  work  lives  on. 
We  see  an  example  of  this  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  He 
strenuously  sought  to  stir  up  our  Associations;  and 
now  during  these  dark  days  through  which  my  country 
is  passing,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  doing  most  important 
work  among  our  soldiers  and  sailors." 


Mr.  Moody's  Appreciation  of  Education 
H,   F.  Cutler,  Principal  of  Mt.  Herman  School 

**  Mr.  Moody  was  not  popularly  known  during  his 
lifetime  as  an  educator  nor  as  an  educated  man.  He 
really  was  both.  The  great  schools  which  he  founded 
entitled  him  to  a  place  among  educators,  and  his  skill 
in  the  selection  of  courses  and  of  teachers  proved  his 
right  there. 

"  Soon  after  his  conversion  he  came  more  and  more 
into  the  companionship  of  educated  men,  and  this 
seemed  always  to  spur  him  on  to  get  information  for 
himself  He  could  not  attend  school.  He  was  too 
old.  In  those  years  he  formed  the  habit  of  rising 
early  in  the  morning  to  read  and  study,  and  this  cus- 
tom he  kept  up  to  the  very  end  of  his  life.  For  years 
he  had  several  persons  reading  for  him.  These  read- 
ers made  outlines  of  books  and  marked  passages  which 


44:  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

he  ought  to  see  and  read.  In  this  way  Mr.  Moody 
became  a  widely  read  man. 

*'  His  contact  with  students  and  professors  in  the 
universities  of  Great  Britain  and  in  the  colleges  of  this 
country  made  him  alert  to  acquaint  himself  with  their 
learning  and  their  problems.  His  great  desire  was  to 
get  at  facts  in  all  their  simplicity.  He  insisted  on 
fundamentals.  He  told  me  again  and  again  to  teach 
the  Hermon  boys  to  spell  and  write.  Sham  and  slip- 
shod work  he  despised  and  could  tolerate  neither  in 
himself  nor  in  others.  This  all  worked  to  make  of 
him  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word  the  educated  man 
that  he  was.  He  was  never  at  a  loss  in  the  discussion 
of  any  topic  theological  or  philosophical,  and  he  was 
well  informed  along  scientific  lines. 

**  He  believed  in  higher  education  as  is  shown  by 
the  number  of  boys  and  girls  he  sent  to  college  and 
by  his  desire  to  emphasize  the  courses  in  his  own 
schools  leading  to  university  work.  For  him  an  edu- 
cated man  meant  a  great  new  added  power  in  the 
world,  and  if  to  this  greatness  he  could  add  goodness, 
his  ideal  man  was  complete.  He  used  to  say,  *  There 
are  great  men  in  the  world ;  there  are  good  men  in  the 
world  ;  but  there  are  few  who  are  both  great  and  good.' 

**  The  foundation  of  all  his  educational  work  was 
the  Bible.  His  prayer  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone 
of  one  of  the  buildings  was  that  God  would  wipe  the 
school  from  the  face  of  the  earth  if  anything  was 
taught  here  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God.  He  had 
caught  the  meaning  of  true  education,  and  he  lived  as 
the  exponent  of  the  great  Teacher  at  whose  feet  he 
himself  had  learned." 


HIS  APPEAL  45 

The  Possibilities  of  a  Consecrated  Life 

The  late  William  Earl  Dodge 

"  The  great  lesson  in  Mr.  Moody's  life  is  the  in- 
finite and  magnificent  possibility  for  service  which  can 
come  to  one  that  puts  himself  absolutely  in  God's 
hands  to  be  used.  Mr.  Moody  did  this  more  unre- 
servedly and  completely  than  any  man  I  ever  knew. 
He  believed  in  every  fibre  of  his  being  all  that  God 
promised.  He  gloried  in  the  full  message  of  life 
which  Christ  came  to  bring,  and  wondered  with  a 
great  astonishment  that  any  could  turn  from  this  offer 
of  eternal  happiness. 

**  His  duty  was  clear  and  direct  to  preach  this  mes- 
sage to  all  men,  and  with  loving  entreaty  to  urge  them 
to  accept.  His  intense  belief  gave  him  power.  His 
simple,  strong  Anglo-Saxon  speech,  caught  from  the 
Bible  he  loved  and  believed  in,  won  him  a  hearing. 
His  clear  common  sense,  his  knowledge  of  men,  and 
his  kind  but  masterful  strength,  gave  him  an  immense 
influence.  He  was  absolutely  unselfish  and  modest, 
and  only  wondered  why  God  should  use  so  feeble  an 
instrument  for  so  great  results." 


Mr.  Moody  s  Sound  Educational  Policies 
Charles  E.  Dickerson,  Principal  of  Northjield  Seminary 
"  During  Mr.  Moody's  lifetime  those  closely  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  the  work  of  the  Northfield  schools 
were  first  won  to  his  educational  ideals  by  the  force  of  his 
wonderful  personality,  the  greatness  of  his  vision  and 
the  compelling  contagion  of  his  consecration  to  the  pur- 
pose of  helping  needy  boys  and  girls  to  get  an  education. 


46  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

**  Since  his  death,  fifteen  years  of  further  connection 
with  his  schools  have  brought  a  continually  increasing 
admiration  for  his  sound  educational  policies  and  a 
deepening  conviction  of  the  greatness  of  the  man  who 
thirty-five  years  ago  had  what  some  educators  are 
still  seeking  after,  that  conception  of  education  which 
should  maintain  a  proper  balance  between  physical,  in- 
tellectual and  moral  training  and  should  make  a  pupil 
an  efficient  and  reliable  citizen,  able  to  do  something 
towards  self-support  and  capable  not  only  of  steering  a 
straight  course  through  intellectual  problems,  but  with 
a  moral  and  religious  training  which  should  make  him 
or  her  safe  amid  the  continually  changing  winds  of 
temptation  and  evil  which  must  inevitably  be  met. 
He  held  that  an  education  without  this  latter  training 
only  *  sharpens  tools  for  the  adversary, '  and  surely 
his  contention  cannot  be  denied. 

"  His  clear  vision  of  athletics  as  a  means  not  an 
end,  his  insistence  upon  many  teams  among  the  dor- 
mitories bringing  a  large  proportion  of  the  five  or  six 
hundred  students  at  Mt.  Hermon  into  training,  in- 
stead of  the  interscholastic  games  which  concentrate 
all  interest  upon  the  training  of  a  score  or  two  of 
students  playing  at  great  expense  with  other  school 
teams,  has  established  a  healthy  athletic  spirit  in  the 
school  and  saved  it  from  the  evils  attendant  upon 
modern  school  and  college  athletics.  That  he  should 
have  seen  and  insisted  upon  this  position  twenty  years 
ago  when  the  whole  spirit  of  the  school  and  college 
world  was  setting  the  other  way  is  but  one  illustration 
of  his  wisdom  and  foresight. 

"  Of  his  wonderful  reliance  upon  God,  his  unflinch- 


HIS  APPEAL  47 

ing  loyalty  to  God's  claims  upon  him,  his  conviction 
that  if  these  claims  were  met,  results  beyond  human 
thought  or  power  would  surely  follow,  all  the  world 
has  heard.  I  would  add  my  testimony  of  gratitude 
for  the  privilege  of  living  for  twenty-five  years  so  close 
to  his  work  as  to  see  daily  and  hourly  the  proof  of  his 
wisdom  in  all  secular  matters  and  the  fruit  of  his  faith 
wrought  out  both  in  structures  of  wood  and  stone  and 
in  the  far  more  precious  building  of  character  in  the 
lives  of  thousands  of  young  people  to  whom  his 
schools  have  offered  their  one  door  of  opportunity." 


Preaching  in  Camp 
The  late  Gen,  O.  O.  Howard 

**  Moody  and  I  met  for  the  first  time  in  Cleveland, 
East  Tennessee.  It  was  about  the  middle  of  April, 
1864.  I  was  bringing  together  my  Fourth  Army 
Corps.  Two  divisions  had  already  arrived,  and  were 
encamped  in  and  near  the  village.  Moody  was  then 
fresh  and  hearty,  full  of  enthusiasm  for  the  Master's 
work.  Our  soldiers  were  just  about  to  set  out  on  what 
we  all  felt  promised  a  hard  and  bloody  campaign,  and 
I  think  were  especially  desirous  of  strong  preaching. 
Crowds  and  crowds  turned  out  to  hear  the  glad  tid- 
ings from  Moody's  lips.  He  showed  them  how  a 
soldier  would  give  his  heart  to  God.  His  preaching 
was  direct  and  effective,  and  multitudes  responded 
with  a  confession  and  promise  to  follow  Christ. 

"  From  that  time  on  throughout  his  useful  career  I 
have  had  association  with  him.  On  the  steamer  Spree, 
during  our  remarkable  wreck  and  rescue,  I  was  with 


48  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

him.  Who  could  have  held  up  Christ  with  more  fear- 
lessness and  fidelity  than  he  did  then  to  over  seven 
hundred  passengers,  a  company  including  agnostics, 
atheists,  Jews,  sceptics  and  formal  believers  of  all 
kinds. 

*'  In  Chicago  he  acted  as  a  general,  and  I  became 
his  subordinate  during  the  World's  Fair.  Thousands 
upon  thousands  crowded  the  theatres,  tents,  halls, 
churches,  and  other  public  buildings,  by  his  provi- 
sion, to  hear  the  simple  Gospel. 

"  His  work,  again,  in  our  war  with  Spain,  by  send- 
ing evangelical  speakers  to  the  front,  whom  he  knew 
the  soldiers  would  heed  and  hear,  will  never  be  meas- 
ured by  us  who  were  mere  helpers.  He  planned, 
selected  his  messengers,  and  sent  them,  and  raised 
funds  to  give  to  our  soldiers  the  bread  of  life." 


A  Tribute  from  a  Great  Scottish  Critic 
Prof.  George  Adam  Smith 

"  We  met  first  at  Yale,  where  I  discovered  for  the 
first  time  what  a  hold  Moody  had  on  the  respectful 
attention,  I  think  I  can  say  admiration,  of  American 
students.  He  asked  me  to  speak  at  the  commence- 
ment exercises  of  the  Northfield  schools,  and  at  the 
American  students'  conference  there.  I  hesitated, 
pleading  on  how  many  points  I  differed  from  the 
Northfield  teaching  about  Scripture.  His  answer  was, 
*  Come  and  say  what  you  like,'  and  I  felt  at  once  the 
inspiration  of  his  trust.  At  Northfield  we  had  several 
conversations  on  Old  Testament  criticism,  some  alone, 
some  with  others.     I  shall  never  forget  his  patience, 


HIS  APPEAL  49 

the  openness  of  his  mind,  his  desire  to  get  at  the  real 
facts  of  criticism,  or  the  shrewdness  and  humour  with 
which  he  combated  them.  It  was  then  that  he  finished 
one  talk  with  the  words  :  '  Look  here,  what's  the  use  of 
telling  the  people  there's  two  Isaiahs  when  most  of  them 
don't  know  that  there's  one  ?  '  But  most  beautiful  was 
his  anxiety  about  the  effect  of  criticism  upon  piety  and 
preaching  ;  he  had  on  his  heart  not  only  some  congre- 
gations which  had  suffered  many  things  from  criticism 
in  the  pulpit,  but  the  divisions  in  the  churches  which 
were  due  to  critical  views.  But  he  was  very  fair,  and 
said  that  these  divisions  were  probably  due  not  only 
to  the  new  opinions  about  Scripture,  but  to  the  temper 
in  which  they  had  been  met  by  the  other  side.  One 
of  the  discussions  with  several  friends  concluded  with 
prayer  from  him,  so  earnest  that  I  shall  ever  look  back 
upon  it  as  one  of  the  greatest  moments  of  ray  life." 


A  Torrent  of  Love  and  Power 
Robert  £.  Speer 

'*  Of  Mr.  Moody's  many  great  qualities  the  one 
which  perhaps  impressed  young  men  most  when  they 
first  met  him  was  his  sincere  directness  of  interest  and 
action.  He  did  not  pretend  to  see  you.  He  did  not 
just  take  you  in  as  a  part  of  the  whole,  with  other  parts 
of  which  he  was  more  concerned.  He  went  straight 
for  you,  had  real  dealings  with  you  and  then  went  on 
his  way. 

*'  He  seemed  all  energy  and  action  as  you  watched 
him.  There  appeared  never  to  be  any  hesitation  or 
doubt.     He  had  a  work  to  do.     He  knew  what  it  was 


50  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

and  that  it  must  be  done  and  he  was  busy  with  it. 
But  there  was  no  one  who  was  such  a  Hstener  as  he. 
He  caught  every  point  or  asked  about  it  if  he  didn't 
catch  it.  And  so  far  from  being  dictatorial  or  head- 
strong, he  was  eager  to  get  Ught  on  his  way  and  to  have 
wise  counsel  even  from  those  who  had  no  experience 
to  be  matched  with  his.  And  the  mixture  of  docility, 
of  honest  humility,  twinkling  shrewdness,  of  unshak- 
able mental  honesty  and  of  deadly  detection  of  sham 
in  him  was  a  marvel. 

"His  brusque,  forceful  manner  cloaked  the  most 
gentle,  eager  and  tender-hearted  kindness.  There  was 
no  sentimentality  or  softness  or  rhetorical  tearfulness 
about  him  and  yet  he  was  like  Paul  in  the  yearning 
with  which  he  loved  Christ  and  men  and  sought  to  bring 
men  to  Christ  and  Christ  to  men.  And  his  interest  in 
people  was  not  momentary.  As  he  found  men  he 
cared  for  and  could  work  with  he  held  to  them. 
Their  names  and  faces  did  not  slip  from  his  memory 
and  he  opened  doors  before  them  and  went  both  be- 
fore and  after.  In  the  summer  conferences  he  was  al- 
ways stepping  back  and  putting  them  forward.  One 
year  in  the  Students'  Conference  the  college  men  pro- 
tested at  his  retirement  and,  taking  the  close  of  one 
of  his  meetings  out  of  his  hands,  demanded  that  he 
should  speak  more  to  them.  He  chuckled  and  agreed 
and  named  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  as  the  hour 
when  he  would  do  it.  He  came  at  that  hour  and  so 
did  they. 

**  Professor  Drummond  quoted  approvingly  the  say- 
ing of  a  great  man  about  Mr.  Moody  to  the  effect  that 
he  was  *  the  greatest  human  '  he  had  ever  met.     That 


HIS  APPEAL  51 

judgment  covers  about  as  much  as  can  be  said  of  a 
man,  but  Mr.  Moody  deserved  it.  He  was  a  combi- 
nation of  General  Grant  and  John  B.  Gough  and 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  William  E.  Dodge  and  Mr. 
Spurgeon  and  a  few  more.  But  he  was  not  any  of 
them.  He  was  just  his  own  great  self,  a  torrent  of 
love  and  power  set  to  sweep  men  home  upon  God." 


Mr.  Moody  in  the  Pulpit 
Rev.  George  A.  Gordon,  D.D. 

"I  heard  Dwight  L.  Moody  preach  in  all  six  times. 
I  heard  him  preach  three  times  during  the  famous 
evangelistic  campaign  in  Boston  in  1876  in  the  great 
tabernacle  built  by  the  business  men  of  the  city  for 
Mr.  Moody's  service. 

"  At  each  one  of  the  three  services  that  I  attended 
I  recall  the  impression  made  upon  me  by  this  preacher. 
It  was  that  of  a  profoundly  earnest  man  to  whom  God 
was  an  absolute  reality,  to  whom  also  the  perils  and 
the  possibilities  of  human  life  were  of  tremendous 
moment. 

"I  heard  Mr.  Moody  twice  in  the  Old  South 
Church  in  Boston  during  a  week  of  services  in  which 
the  Old  South  was  associated  with  the  First  Baptist 
Church.  Mr.  Moody's  preaching  had  changed  some- 
what in  the  interval.  Humour  was  more  abundant ; 
the  strain  of  seriousness  was  relieved  by  striking 
anecdotes.  The  purpose  of  the  man,  however,  was 
the  same,  his  spiritual  life  even  more  abundant  and 
surer  of  itself. 


52  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

**  The  last  occasion  on  which  I  heard  Mr.  Moody 
preach  was  in  Tremont  Temple.  His  subject  was, 
The  Good  Samaritan.  One  winged  sentence  I  shall 
never  forget — '  That  humane  Samaritan  who  nursed 
back  to  life  the  Jew  who  had  unlimited  contempt  for 
him  knocked  more  sectarianism  and  class-feeling  out 
of  the  world  by  his  deeds  than  was  ever  done  before 
or  since  in  the  same  length  of  time.'  Another  witty 
remark  I  recall  in  Mr.  Moody's  sermon  on  Excuses. 
The  text  was,  *  I  have  married  a  wife  and  cannot 
come.'  *  The  flimsiness  of  this  excuse,'  said  Mr. 
Moody,  <  is  apparent  to  all.  Who  ever  heard  of  a 
bride,  with  all  her  new  dresses,  refusing  to  go  to  a 
party  ? ' 

"  As  I  look  back  upon  the  career  of  Mr.  Moody  he 
stands  out  preeminent  among  the  evangelists  whom  I 
have  known." 


Moody's  Power  with  College  Men 
John  R.  Mott 

*'  My  knowledge  of  Moody  was  confined  largely  to 
observing  at  first  hand  his  work  among  the  college 
men  of  North  America  and  to  studying  the  results  of 
his  activities  among  the  students  of  Great  Britain. 
Judged  by  the  testimony  of  undergraduates  and  gradu- 
ates, he  exerted  a  greater  influence  upon  them  than 
did  any  other  Christian  worker  of  his  day,  with  the 
single  exception  of  that  exercised  by  Henry  Drum- 
mond  among  students  in  Edinburgh.  Wherein  lay 
the  secret  ? 

**  It  was  the  note  of  reality  in  Moody's  preaching 


HIS  APPEAL  63 

that  appealed  strongly  to  college  men.  They  were 
impressed  by  his  downright  honesty  and  transparent 
sincerity.  He  was  absolutely  devoid  of  sham  and 
affectation.  He  never  appealed  to  the  gallery.  He 
was  tremendously  frank  and  direct.  He  was  wholly 
unconventional  and  never  flattered  or  paid  compliments. 
He  was  bold  as  a  lion  in  exposing  hypocrisy  and  in 
attacking  individual  and  social  sins.  The  students 
saw  that  he  practiced  what  he  preached  and  accepted 
him  as  a  true  prophet. 

**  To  a  host  of  college  men  he  brought  religion  out 
of  the  clouds  and  made  it  a  present-day  and  every-day 
personal  and  practical  relationship  and  experience. 
No  college  man  who  ever  heard  his  incisive  comments 
on  the  Ten  Commandments  and  his  pointed  applica- 
tions to  modern  life  will  ever  forget  them.  They  cut 
like  a  mighty  plowshare  through  the  sins  of  college 
life  and  of  society.  His  attractive  and  telling  portrayal 
of  the  elemental  virtues  and  homely  loyalties  made  the 
conferences  which  he  conducted  generating  and  prop- 
agating centres  of  a  Christianity  profoundly  ethical 
and  workable.  There  was  a  poise  and  sanity  which 
put  him  in  a  class  by  himself. 

"  His  wonderful  heart  power  went  far  to  explain 
the  wide  range  of  his  influence.  He  won  men  by  his 
kindness  as  well  as  persuaded  them  by  the  truth.  It 
is  said  that  Christ  '  was  numbered  among  the  trans- 
gressors,' and  this,  among  other  reasons,  not  only 
that  He  might  know  them  but  also  that  they  might 
know  that  He  knew  them.  So  it  was  with  this  great 
man.  The  students  recognized  that  he  had  a  master 
knowledge   of   human   nature — that   he   knew   them 


54  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

through  and  through.  Above  all,  they  felt  that  he 
had  a  heart  interest  in  them — that  he  sympathized 
deeply  with  them  in  their  soul-struggles  and  in  their 
body-struggles  with  temptation  as  well  as  in  their 
sorrows.  I  shall  never  forget  his  overflowing  sympathy 
and  kindness  during  one  of  the  earUer  conferences, 
when  a  member  of  my  own  college  delegation  was 
drowned  in  the  Connecticut.  Moreover,  he  manifested 
as  natural  and  as  enthusiastic  an  interest  in  sports  and 
in  the  famous  student  Fourth  of  July  celebration  as 
did  any  schoolboy. 

**His  enormous  influence  with  college  men  cannot 
be  explained  apart  from  his  unaffected  humility.  The 
great  teacher  must  ever  remain  a  disciple.  Nothing 
was  more  impressive  at  the  student  conferences  than 
to  see  Moody,  after  introducing  a  speaker,  go  down 
from  the  platform  and  take  a  seat  at  his  feet  and  from 
time  to  time  jot  down  notes  of  what  was  being  said. 
It  was  this  openness  to  new  ideas  and  responsiveness 
to  new  plans  which  did  much  to  give  him  such  a 
strong  hold  on  growing,  studying,  ambitious  young 
men.  His  willingness  to  receive  criticism  and  to  con- 
fess faults  revealed  genuine  greatness  of  soul.  Although 
he  was  one  of  the  most  masterful  of  men  and  one  of 
the  strongest  personalities  of  his  generation,  he  was 
modest  and  self-effacing  to  a  marked  degree." 


My  Debt  to  D.  L.  Moody 

Wilfred  T.  Grenfelh  M.  D. 
"  Personally  I  only  once  spoke  to  D.  L.  Moody.    But 
I  am  proud  always  that  a  man  of  that  type  was  the 


HIS  APPEAL  65 

turning  point  in  my  life,  and  I  love  his  memory  better 
than  many  whose  talk  I  have  heard  far  oftener. 

*' Every  time  I  give  an  anaesthesia  I  acknowledge 
my  debt  to  Morton  and  Simpson.  At  every  major 
operation  I  rejoice  for  the  blessed  life-work  of  the 
great  Lister.  It  is  the  same  with  D.  L.  Moody.  But 
in  what  did  his  great  contribution  to  my  life  consist  ? 
Not  in  the  scholarship  of  'current  science,'  or  the  the- 
ology of  seminaries  and  churches,  or  in  physical  at- 
tainments or  eccentricities.  It  surely  was  just  the 
wonderful  portion  of  his  Master's  spirit.  I  had  never 
considered  religious  folk  as  quite  human.  I  needed 
D.  L.  Moody  to  believe  that  a  man  could  be  *  a  man 
for  a'  that.' 

*'  It  did  not  seem  necessary  to  intrude  a  personal 
acquaintance  on  the  man.  He  gave  me  the  impres- 
sion always  that  what  he  longed  for  was  that  every 
one  should  become  personally  acquainted  with  his 
Master. 

*'  Paul,  standing  on  the  deck  of  the  doomed  ship, 
cool,  confident,  inspiring  others,  drew  himself  up  to 
the  full  height  of  his  manhood  when  he  claimed  for 
the  Christ  the  credit  for  anything  he  accomplished. 
That  lovely  unselfishness  appeals  always  to  the  best  in 
every  man.  D.  L.  Moody  always  stood  on  the  plat- 
form of  '  whose  I  am  and  whom  I  serve. ' 

"  Fourteen  years  after  my  conversion,  when  we 
both  happened  to  be  in  Boston,  I  called  for  the  first 
time  on  this  man.  He  did  not  know  me  from  Adam. 
I  realized  my  debt  to  him,  however,  and  wanted  just 
to  say  thank  you.  He  listened  to  all  I  had  to  say, 
carefully  avoided,  I  ought  to  say  naturally  avoided. 


56  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

any  conventional  phrases  or  sentimental  remarks. 
Just  as  one  real  ordinary  man  to  another,  treat- 
ing religion  as  the  Lord's  business  should  be,  as 
naturally  as  we  treat  calomel  or  ipecac  or  anything 
else  that  is  any  use  to  accomplish  things,  he  said, 
'  Good.  What  have  you  been  doing  since?  '  That's 
the  kind  of  man  he  was.  Any  real  man  couldn't  help 
being  tickled  to  death  with  that  kind  of  answer.  *  Do- 
ing ?  Well,  Tve  been  living  and  working  among 
fishermen  from  the  Bay  of  Biscay  to  the  Coast  of 
Labrador,  instead  of  staying  in  London.'  'Regret 
it?'  <  No,  sir,  I  should  rather  say  not.'  'Could 
you  come  and  tell  them  at  the  afternoon  service  in 
the  Tremont  Temple  in  three  minutes  ?  *  I  could  not 
help  smiling.  'I  can  try.'  'Then  I'll  be  grateful 
if  you'll  do  so.  Side  door  at  three-thirty.  Good- 
bye.    Ever  so  many  thanks  for  dropping  in.* 

"If  not  the  exact  actual  words  used,  yet  that  is  the 
impression  left  in  my  mind  since  that  interview,  and 
I  loved  the  man  for  it.  There  was  no  unctuousness, 
no  snobbery,  no  cant ;  and  yet  again  he  had  moved 
my  heart  to  want  to  do  things  more  than  ever.  He 
left  such  imprint  also  of  '  things  done  ' — such  beau- 
tiful memorials  as  the  Northfield  and  Hermon  schools. 

"  You  asked  me  if  I  had  any  photographs  of  him. 
No,  not  one.  And,  moreover,  I  don't  want  one.  I 
shall  recognize  him  again  when  I  meet  him.  He 
wasn't  much  of  a  sitter  for  photographs,  I  believe, 
anyhow.  And  my  love  and  respect  for  him  have 
nothing  to  do  with  his  physical  form.  Did  any  pic- 
tures that  you  ever  saw  of  the  Master  make  you  either 
remem.ber  Him  better  or  love  Him  more  ?    Somehow 


HIS  APPEAL  57 

I  feel  like  that,  even  after  all  these  years,  towards 
D.  L.  Moody.  To  me  he  reflected  the  spirit  of  the 
Master;  that  is  not  definable." 


Incidents  in  the  Inquiry-Room 

Washington  Gladden,  D.  D, 

*<  In  the  early  months  of  1878  Mr.  Moody  came  to 
Springfield,  Mass.  I  remember  very  well  his  prelimi- 
nary meeting  with  the  ministers  at  the  Massasoit  House 
and  the  directness  and  practical  sense  which  he  ex- 
hibited in  the  arrangements  made.  The  financial 
provision  was  a  small  matter ;  no  large  expense  was 
to  be  incurred ;  the  meetings  were  to  be  held  in  the 
City  Hall,  our  largest  assembly-room,  and  the  inquiry 
meetings,  following  each  service,  in  the  First  Congre- 
gational Church,  near  by. 

"  It  was  in  these  familiar  and  informal  meetings 
that  I  came  to  know  Mr.  Moody  best.  It  was  in  a 
day  when  men  of  my  way  of  thinking  were  suspects 
in  the  Congregational  fellowship;  some  pretty  per- 
sistent attempts  had  been  made  to  drive  us  out.  Mr. 
Moody  had  been  warned  that  I  was  a  heretic,  but  he 
did  not  seem  to  be  afraid  of  me ;  on  the  contrary,  he 
used  me  very  freely  in  the  inquiry  meeting.  One 
evening  as  I  was  standing  in  the  broad  aisle  I  heard 
his  voice  from  a  side  aisle  opposite.  *  Here,  Mr. 
Gladden,  I  want  you  I  '  I  made  my  way  to  him 
and  he  led  me  to  a  pew  in  which  three  women  were 
sitting.  *  Talk  to  these  women!'  he  said.  *They 
are   atheists.     They   don't  believe   in   God   nor  the 


68  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

Bible,  nor  the  future  life.  They  don't  believe  any- 
thing. Here  !  *  he  said  quickly  to  a  young  girl  who 
sat  at  the  head  of  the  pew.  *  You  go  with  me.  I 
don't  want  you  to  hear  what  these  women  are  saying.' 
And  he  led  her  away. 

**  It  was  all  in  perfect  good  nature.  I  sat  down  in 
front  of  the  women,  saying  :  *  Well,  this  is  a  queer 
introduction.  What  have  you  to  say  for  yourselves  ? ' 
*  It's  all  right,'  said  one  of  them.  *  He  has  told  you 
the  truth.' 

"What  I  said  to  them  is  no  part  of  the  story;  I 
have  told  it  to  show  Moody's  frank  and  fearless  way 
of  dealing  with  people.  The  experience  of  those  in- 
quiry meetings  is  one  of  the  high  lights  of  memory. 

"  Above  all,  the  spirit  of  the  man  was  so  sweet,  so 
tolerant,  so  kindly  that  he  drew  all  hearts  towards 
him.  He  had  no  bitter  or  censorious  words  to  speak 
about  those  who  differed  with  him ;  he  kindled  no 
suspicions  or  hatreds  in  human  hearts ;  he  hurled  no 
maledictions. 

**  I  shall  bear  with  me  to  my  grave,  and  beyond,  a 
grateful  recollection  of  this  clear-headed,  broad- 
minded,  great-hearted  man." 


A  Glimpse  of  the  Earlier  Days 

Daniel  W.  Mc  Williams 

"It  is  with  gratitude  that  I  record  some  facts  about 
him,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  some  of  the  most 
sacred  and  helpful  experiences  of  my  life.  Beginning 
a  residence  in  Peoria,  111.,  in  March,  1861,  a  few  days 
before  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War,  we  soon  began 


HIS  APPEAL  69 

to  hear  of  the  consecration  and  intensely  practical 
earnestness  in  which  Mr.  Moody  was  conducting 
Christian  work  in  Chicago. 

**  The  war  was  upon  us.  The  mind  of  the  whole 
nation  was  tense.  Many  turned  to  God  in  prayer. 
Christian  leadership  was  soon  to  have  an  enlargement 
unequalled  in  the  history  of  the  world.  A  new  Chris- 
tian nation  was  to  be  born.  Devoted  ministers  (one 
of  them  the  father  of  Rev.  Dr.  Hibben,  President  of 
Princeton  University)  and  earnest  laymen  were  en- 
listed in  Peoria  and  there  were  tokens  of  blessing. 
Visitors  went  to  Chicago  and  brought  back  accounts 
of  Mr.  Moody's  methods.  A  Peoria  banker  invited 
some  ministers  and  laymen  to  his  house  to  meet  Mr. 
Moody  at  dinner.  Mr.  Moody  was  late  in  appearing 
— the  delay  was  caused  by  a  private  interview  up-stairs 
sought  by  Mr.  Moody  in  an  endeavour  to  lead  a  well- 
known  unconverted  man  to  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  his 
personal  Saviour.  The  two  great  impressions  con- 
cerning Mr.  Moody,  made  that  day  upon  every  per- 
son present  (and  only  one  had  ever  before  met  Mr. 
Moody),  was  his  earnestness  in  seeking  to  lead  per- 
sons to  the  Saviour  and  his  intense  thirst  for  the 
knowledge  of  the  Bible,  for  the  entire  dinner  time 
was  taken  by  Mr.  Moody  in  quoting  verses  and  in 
asking  the  ministers  to  tell  him,  *  What  does  this 
verse  mean  ?  '  It  was  a  dinner-exposition  of  Scrip- 
ture. 

"  In  the  winter  after  the  Chicago  fire,  Mr.  Moody 
and  his  family  visited  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  The  Lafay- 
ette Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  (Rev.  Theodore  L. 
Cuyler,  D.  D.,  pastor)  had  raised  ^40,000  as  its  por- 


60  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

tion  of  the  Memorial  Fund  of  ;^3, 000,000  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  to  signalize  its  thanksgiving  for 
the  reuniting  of  the  old  and  new  school  branches  of 
that  denomination.  On  visiting  the  chapel,  nearing 
completion,  he  said  that  he  would  like  to  preach  there, 
and  the  meetings  began.  Services  were  held  twice 
each  day  and  proved  most  instructive  and  attractive. 
A  woman  of  large  spiritual  discernment  told  Mr. 
Moody  :  *  In  Brooklyn  we  have  the  best  of  preachers. 
Such  men  as  Dr.  Cuyler,  Dr.  Storrs,  Mr.  Beecher  and 
others  like  them.  Mr.  Moody,  it  is  not  more  preach- 
ing which  we  want  but  knowledge  of  the  Bible — that  is 
what  people  need.'  " 


A  Man  with  a  Calling 
Bishop  John  H.  Vincenty  D.  /).,  LL.  D, 

"  I  knew  Mr.  Moody  first  in  1857.  I  knew  him  in 
Chicago,  in  California,  in  London,  in  Dublin.  I  knew 
him  in  the  Sunday-school  work,  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
in  the  Christian  Commission,  and  slightly  in  actual 
evangelistic  services.  I  knew  him  on  the  street,  on 
the  railroad,  in  the  parlour,  on  the  public  platform,  in 
the  sacred  silence  and  service  of  prayer  and  Christian 
fellowship.  He  was  always  and  everywhere  the  same 
straightforward,  positive,  simple-hearted,  loyal  and 
enthusiastic  follower  of  Christ ;  courageous,  spiritually 
minded,  guileless,  consecrated,  and  indefatigable.  I 
don't  wonder  that  when  *  earth  receded '  heaven 
*  opened,'  or  that  at  the  last  he  heard  '  God  calling' 
him.  He  heard  God  '  call '  long,  long  ago ;  and  he 
loved  to  obey  and  follow.     Rest,  noble  servant  of  the 


HIS  APPEAL  61 

Most  High,  rest  in  the  eternal  life  of  communion  with 
thy  God." 

Mr.  Moody  and  Students 
Prof,  James  Stalker y  D.  Z).,  Aberdeen  University 

"  Well  do  I  remember  the  very  first  meetings  of  Mr. 
Moody  in  Scotland.  At  the  very  first  evening  meeting 
I  attended,  Mr.  Moody  requested  me  and  a  companion, 
who  had  been  pointed  out  to  him  as  divinity  students, 
to  wait  and  assist  at  the  inquiry  meeting ;  but  we  de- 
clined, having  had  no  experience  in  such  work.  On 
the  way  home,  however,  we  talked  it  over  and  we 
returned  next  night  to  offer  our  services.  After  that 
we  assisted  regularly.  My  companion,  Mr.  Skene,  is 
now  professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  Presbyterian  College 
at  Melbourne,  Australia. 

"  Most  of  the  students  of  divinity  had  been  going 
through  similar  experiences,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
session  they  were  ready  to  serve  the  movement  in 
any  way  they  could.  They  were  sent  to  many  parts 
of  the  country  to  speak  of  what  was  happening  in 
Edinburgh,  and  either  prepare  for  Mr.  Moody's  coming 
or  visit  places  to  which  he  was  unable  to  go.  The  tie 
binding  together  those  who  were  thus  engaged  has 
survived  to  the  present  day.  This  spring  I  met  in 
Princeton  a  Philadelphia  minister  who  had  been  study- 
ing in  Edinburgh  that  winter  and  had  taken  part  in 
the  movement ;  since  then  I  had  not  seen  him  but 
once ;  but  his  memories  of  that  marvellous  time  were 
as  vivid  and  tender  as  ever. 

**  Before  the  college  session  ended,  it  became  mani- 
fest that  a  wide-spread  spirit  of  interest  and  decision 


62  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

among  young  men  was  to  be  one  of  the  features  of  the 
revival.  Mr.  Moody  took  five  of  the  New  College 
students  with  him  to  Glasgow  to  the  first  of  the  great 
meetings  for  young  men,  and  he  put  them  all  on  to 
speak,  while  controlling  the  meeting  himself.  After 
the  session  was  over  such  meetings  were  multiplied  in 
all  directions,  the  students  becoming  expert  in  con- 
ducting them;  and  several  of  the  students  followed 
Mr.  Moody,  with  the  same  object,  to  Ireland  and 
England.  I  had  soon  to  give  this  up  through  having 
accepted  a  call  to  a  church ;  but  Henry  Drummond 
went  on  with  the  work  for  two  years ;  and  this  was  the 
commencement  of  his  world-wide  labours  as  an  evangel- 
ist to  young  men,  especially  students. 

**  It  was  not,  I  think,  by  Mr.  Moody's  intellectual 
power  or  his  speaking  power  that  students  were  thus 
attracted.  Prone  as  students  are  to  criticize,  Mr. 
Moody  was  even  to  them  above  criticism;  he  was  so 
obviously  the  servant  and  instrument  of  a  movement 
felt  to  be  divine.  But  students  are  extremely  suscep- 
tible to  the  influence  of  personality ;  and  this  certainly 
told  on  them.  They  felt  unconsciously  the  spiritual 
stature  of  the  man  and  the  singleness  of  his  purpose. " 


His  Enduring  Fame 
Hon,  James  A.  Mount,  Ex-Governor  of  Indiana 

**  Mr.  Moody  did  not  preach  to  please  the  ear,  but 
to  save  the  soul,  yet  he  moved  thousands  to  repentance 
by  the  fervour  of  his  eloquence  and  the  earnestness  of 
his  appeal.  He  had  a  message  from  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  dying  men,  and  with  love  to  God  and  love  to  men 


HIS  APPEAL  63 

he  delivered  that  message.     More  enduring  than  if 

perpetuated  by   marble   shaft   will  be   the   name   of 

Moody,   for  it  is  embalmed  in  the  memory  of  loving 

hearts  whom  he  led  out  of  darkness  into  light,  and 

from  the  power  of  sin  to  salvation  through  faith  in 

Christ." 

**  He  being  dead  yet  speaketh." 


So  genuine  was  Mr.  Moody's  goodness 
and  greatness  that  even  men  who  disagreed 
with  him  in  his  teaching  were  constrained  to 
acknowledge  the  colossal  proportions  of  the 
man.  Thus,  The  Catholic  World  said  at  the 
time  of  his  death  :  **  His  prevailing  qualities 
were  tireless  energy,  amazing  common  sense, 
unquestioning  faith,  and  a  human  sympathy 
rarely  equalled.  These  qualities  on  fire  with 
enthusiasm  and  marshalled  with  the  brain  of 
a  military  general  made  him  a  powerful  leader 
of  men.  Protestantism  has  lost  its  best 
apostle  and  in  the  death  of  Mr.  Moody  there 
is  a  conscious  halt  in  its  forces."  The  Out- 
look summed  up  Mr.  Moody's  Hfe  thus :  "  It 
would  be  difficult  to  name  any  man  in  the 
present  century  who  has  done  so  much  to 
give  the  power  of  spiritual  vision  to  men  who 
having  eyes  saw  not,  having  ears  heard  not, 
to  give  hope  to  men  who  were  living  in  dull 
despair  or  even  more  fatally,  dull  self-content, 


64  DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

and  to  give  that  love  which  is  righteousness 
and  that  righteousness  which  is  love  to  man." 
Neither  God  nor  man  will  let  such  a  life 
die.  It  lives  in  the  appeal  which  it  makes, 
and  will  continue  to  make,  in  all  the  years 
which  are  to  come. 


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